ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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State of the West Bengal Economy

The problems with the Central Statistics Office’s gross domestic product estimates based on the new series with 2011–12 base year are well known by now. In this context, the controversial gross state domestic product estimates rolled out by the Department of Planning, Statistics and Programme Monitoring, Government of West Bengal are analysed and the veracity of the assertions made by the state’s finance minister in his 2018 budget statement is examined.

FRDI Bill, 2017

Given the far-reaching nature of the changes it seeks to introduce within the financial system, the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill should not be rushed through Parliament. Widespread apprehensions regarding provisions of the FRDI Bill, particularly the bail-in provision, have already forced the government to pause. It is only appropriate that an informed public debate precedes the tabling of this legislation for passage, which can signifi cantly alter the contours of India’s financial sector.

FRDI Bill, 2017: Inducing Financial Instability

Given its wide scope and the far-reaching nature of the changes it seeks to introduce within the financial system, the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill should not be rushed through the parliament, as has unfortunately been the case with several legislations in the recent past. Widespread scepticism and apprehensions regarding the various provisions of the FRDI Bill, particularly the bail-in provision, have already forced the government to pause, as the Joint Parliamentary Committee studying the bill has been given time till the end of the next budget session to finalise its report. It is only appropriate that an informed public debate precedes the tabling of this legislation for passage, which can significantly alter the contours of India’s financial sector.

Demonetisation Post-Truths

A close examination of the finance ministry's claims of meeting the stated objectives of demonetisation, reveals that they are mostly false and deceptive. Official data show that even the fiscal costs of demonetisation have far surpassed its benefits, let alone its impact on the rest of the economy and the people.

‘Riskless Capitalism’ in India

A study of the financial processes underlying India’s high-growth trajectory of the 2000s and its relationship with “riskless capitalism,” a term first used by Raghuram Rajan in November 2014, finds that the Indian growth story cannot be over-simplistically explained as a result of “market-oriented” reforms. Public sector bank credit-financed investments, particularly in the infrastructure sector, played a significant role in sustaining growth, most crucially after the global economic crisis. Such a growth trajectory, however, proved to be unsustainable with the expansionary phase coming to an end in 2011–12 and bad loans piling up in the banking system.

Missed Goals

Government as Practice: Democratic Left in a Transforming India by Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya, Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2016; pp xx+273, ₹750, hardback.

A Rightward Shift

The results of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections reflect a clear rightward shift in Indian politics. The misrule of the Congress-led government at the centre, which has presided over the most corrupt and anti-people regime in the post-Independence period, had led to popular anger across the country.

A Land Acquisition Bill With Many Faultlines

The much revised and much delayed Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettelment Bill is expected to be debated in Parliament in the Monsoon Session. There are, however, many problems with the Bill as it now stands. Can they be addressed?

A Selective Reading


A Selective Reading Prasenjit Bose This is in response to the editorial

Women's Reservation in Legislatures: A Defence

Women's reservations in legislative bodies will help break the patriarchal hold on Indian politics, which is why the opposition to this bill is so strong. Its opponents are trying to kill it by pitting one section of the deprived against the other or by asking for impractical measures in the name of bettering it. The present bill is the result of 14 years and two parliamentary committees worth of scrutiny and debate. That male parliamentarians will lose their "nurtured" seats, does not amount to any argument against the legislation as it aims to do precisely that - break the status quo of entrenched male domination.

Verdict 2009: An Appraisal of Critiques of the Left

Critiques of the mainstream left in India have questioned its political strategies and priorities, in the light of the left parties' defeat in the 15th Lok Sabha elections, following which the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has conducted a review - identifying its weaknesses and errors. The argument that the left should not have withdrawn support to the ruling alliance in 2008 over the nuclear deal and should have privileged its struggle for livelihood issues, ignores the impact of imperialism on national sovereignty. That there were organisational shortcomings and mistakes by the Left Front-led West Bengal government is undeniable, but a rejection of the "democratic centralism" model of functioning by the CPI(M) does not automatically follow. Also the notion that a "left sans the CPI(M)" is viable flows from a flawed argumentative basis.

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